Revolving illuminated sign.



J. E. SAUNDBRS. REVOLVING ILLUMINATED SIGN. APPLICATION FILED IEB. 19, 1909.

935,236., Patented Sept28, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Il' I Josera' E. semelles. or ovm.

fp To all where it may concern."

' vof my invention changeable f sidesof the caslng, the said plates in the slideways 'designates a casing,

:galvanized iron or tin or other suitable metal ably however,

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

comme. Assistme er @NE-HALF T0 LORENZ MUTHEB, or .lallrvaiztv cotoaano. BEVOLWNG ILLUMINATEP swatv Be' it known that I, JOSEPH E. SAUNDERsi a citizen of the United States of America:

residing at Ovid, county of Sedgwick, and

State of Colorado, have Yinvented anew and useful Revolving Illuminated Sign, of which the following 1s a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in revolving illuminated signs, and the'objects are: First, to rovide a re volving illuminated sign that will enable the sign letters to be illuminated with different 4 colors as the sign revolves.

Second, to pro vide a revolving illuminated signprovlded with an inner illuminated casing and an outer sign letter holding casing that are opposite adapted'to rotate in the same or 1n directions. And third, to provide an lntersign letter sign provided with ai illuminated casin and that is revolvin dg with means by whic it may be ro-l provide tated by the pressure of the wind or by other suitable ower. v l l I attam'these objects by the mechanismj illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: 'l i l Figure "1,` is a side elevation of the im. proved sign, some of the Fig. 3, is an enlarged vertical secdevice.

' the sign so arranged that both the casin an l? Fig Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throu hout the several views. Referring to the rawings, the numeral 1, which may be made of or" material. This casing'y comprises a pyramidal cap 2,a pyramidal supportingbase 3, and corner supporting standards 4, which? extend ifrom the base '3 to the cap 2, and areA either made 'integral A therewlth or are at tached thereto. The sides' of the casing are made of glass 5, or of some other transparent Y material, which is secured 'to' the -corner standards in any suitablemanner. I preferspepmcanpn f Letters Patent. ppm-auna and rebruary 19, .1909.

i the sides of the 'for securing the front end of each i glass plates of the outer member or casing being removed.- Fig. 2, is a side elevation of the revoluble lan,-v tern. tional view through the upper end of the?, Fig. 4, isa horizontal sectional view thereof. Fig. 5, is a side elevation showin Aextend. .across the corner.

Patented Sept. 28, 1909. serialnaaqsaz's.

standards, with slideways 7, into which the edges of pieces of glass will fit and slide. These glass slidewaystrips are placed at a distanceI apart that will permit a piece of glass to be inserted between them, that is of ample width to form a letter or a figure thereon, of the sign word or group of figures it is desired todi'spla on the sides of the casing, an illuminate sign that can be seen through casing. Anend clip 8 is also formed in the web portion of the standards, which is adapted to receive the inner end of each glass that the sign letters are formed on, and a suitable clip 10 or other fastening device is provided glass sign plate in the slideways against accidental displacement. The cap and also the base are provided with a central hub portion 1l, which ojects from their outer ends. The casing '1s adapted to be supported in either a vertical or a horizontal or an oblique position, by avbracket or brackets 12, .which may be secured to the base shoe or to the cap or to both preferably at their corners, or if preferred, the casing may be depended from a bracket arranged to be clamped to the hub of the cap, as shown in Fig. 5. ,The hubs of the cap and base are arranged to contain ball bearings 13, and they may he su ported from the cap and base. I preferablyuse, however, for these hubs, a hub constructed and arranged like the hubs of a bicycle, and extend truss wires from flanged portions ,16 to lugs 17, which are secured to the corner portions of the cap .and base. These' hubs are also provided with ball bearing race ways 18, which are similar in construction to those commonly used in bicycles and buggy axles. l

Within the casing I mount a revolving lantern 19, which is preferably made with opposite pyramidal ends V and 20A, of the 'same degree of taper as the cap and base, from which spindles 21 and 22 project -and are revolubly journaled in the ball bearings 0f the hubs 'of the cap and base. The spindle 22 at the lower end of the lantern projects through the" lower hub and is threaded and.

provi ed with a' nut .23.

I have preferably illustrated my revoluble illuminated electric sign arranged vto be rotated by the power of the wind, and preferably carry out this feature of my invencross bars 6, and provide themA and adapted standard by a tion,

tion by attachingto this spindle rality of wind catching cones 24, illustrating four 4wind catching" ported at the ends of arms 25, wh1ch are mounted on the spindle to stand at right angles to each other, and the cones are s ecure'd to the ends of the arms in any con venient manner.

The lantern is composed of the tapering end cap 20 and base 20A, and of corner supporting standards 26, which are made integral with or are connected to the cap and base cones of the revoluble lantern.- 'The lantern is preferably hexagonal in cross secand the sides of the lantern are made of glass plates 27, which are all secured to the standards and endsl of the cap and base by slotted clips 28, except two, which are formed into an entrance door into the interior of the lantern, and which I hinge to onestandard at one side', and secure it to an vadjacent button clip 30, or other' suit-l able door fastener. The cap and base of the lantern are provided with Ventilating apertures 31. f

The spindle of the cap is provided with an axial aperture 32, which extends through it from end to end, and is adapted'to receive 21 a\plu preferably COIIGS Supa electric wires 33, which are supported by' being attached to the cap or parts thereof. These wires extend into the lantern and one or more electric lights 34 are attached thereto, and. suspended in the interior of the lantern, and are supported therein in any suitable manner. The lantern may be made with three or four or more sides. I prefer-- ably illustrate it with six sides, and While the glass sides may be leftclear, I preferably make or paint them with two or three or more spirally arranged bands of different colors, preferably by painting these colors on the glass. The cap and the base of the outside casing are also provided with apertures 35, for ventilation, and to allow of a free circulation of air through the caps and bases of both the casing and the lantern.

The casing is provided with a hinged door 3G, on the side facing the wall or edge of the building, to which it is connected. This door is hinged along one side to one standard, and is secured at the center of its opposite edge by'a suitable latch 38, which is securedat one end to the standard and is movable in a loop keeper 3l), at its opposite end to stand normally over the edge of the door, and hold it closed against the standard to which the keeper and latch are secured. NVhen it is desired to rotate both the casing and lantern the outside easing is provided with wind vanos 40, which are positioned on the edges of the standards, and these wind vanos are made large enough to rotate the outside vcasing on the ball bearings that sur round the spindle ofthe lantern, and in case it were desired to rotate this outside casing,

the supporting bracket 12 would be secured at one end to the outer end of the ball race spindle 21 of the ball race collar, and at its posite end would be secured to the end or side ofa building, which at the cap end of thecasing is free to rotate in the hub and independent of the spindle of the cap end of the lantern, while the lower end of the spindle of the lantern, which projects below the hub, is pivotally journaled in a bracket 41 that is formed to receive it, and that extends to and is secured to the side or end of the building. When the outer casing is mounted in this manner, it may be rotated by the wind and the cones which operate the lantern may be setI to rotate it inthe opposite' direction from the casing, or they may both be turned in the saine direction, if desired.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a rotatable illuminated sign, the combination with a transparent casing, having conical cap and base end portions, a hub secured at one end to the apex of the conical base portion, flanges on the opposite outer end portions of said hub, projecting lugs on the larger or base end portions of each of said conical base portions, and a group of truss wires connected at one of their ends at diiferent points around said hubsflanges and arranged to extend from said flanges to the lugs of the base portion of said conical bases, and adapted to bracingly secure said hub to said conical base portion, ball raceway bearingsnvithin said hubs, a plurality v of slideways on the sides of said casing, a removable plate of glass in each slideway adapted to receive a sign letter, a glass door hinged on one side of said casing, means for locking said door in a closed position, a lantern within said casing provided with conical ends, a spindle in extending into and journaled in the ball bearings of said casings hubs, the lower one of said spindles extending beyond one of said hubs, cross blades secured to the end portion of said spindles, conical cupped shaped wind catching cones secured to said blades and arranged and adapted to catch the wind and rotate said spindle and inner lantern, a door opening into said lantern, a light within said lantern, Ventilating apertures vin the conical ends of said lantern and casing, a supporting bracket secured to one of said conical base portion hubs, and a similar supporting bracket secured to the opposite conical base portion.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

G. SARGENT ELLIOTT, AnELLA M. FowLE.

.each end `of said lantern, y 

